In many manufacturing applications, thin platelike metal sheets are utilized for forming components, and the forming operation often results in leftover sheet metal pieces which are normally too small for further use and hence disposed of as waste. These waste sheet metal pieces, however, are themselves often times of significant size, and many manufacturers are desirous of being able to utilize this waste, although in most cases are unsuccessful in doing so.
In other situations the product being manufactured may require or desire use of dissimilar materials, such as having a coated or galvanized material in some regions, and a noncoated material in other regions. However, if the design requires that the critical regions be manufactured of one piece, then optimum performance, design or efficiency is generally sacrificed and the piece is formed from a piece of sheet metal having the highest requirements, such as forming the piece entirely of a plated or galvanized material, even though such plating or galvanizing is not required in its entirety.
Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide an apparatus which is able to improve upon the manufacturing disadvantages summarized above. More specifically, the present invention relates to an improved apparatus which can create a mash seam weld between two sheetlike pieces so as to create a larger single sheetlike piece having properties similar to a virgin or nonwelded piece. With this improvement, smaller pieces which are normally disposed of as waste can be mash seam welded (i.e. spliced) together so as to create larger useful sheetlike pieces which can hence be utilized for manufacturing purposes. Alternatively, smaller pieces of dissimilar properties, such as coated and noncoated sheetlike pieces, can be mash seam welded to create a single larger sheetlike piece which can be utilized to form a piece of manufacture having optimum properties, and at the same time permit efficient and cost effective use of materials. As a further alternative, two sheets of different thickness can be splined together by a mash seam weld.
In the apparatus of the present invention, a pair of sheetlike members are supported on a sheet support assembly having skewed support rollers disposed on opposite sides of an elongate guide having a pair of sidewardly opening and vertically overlapping guide grooves. The pair of sheets are disposed on opposite sides of the guide and are urged inwardly into the guide grooves so that adjacent edges of the sheets are vertically overlapped. A shuttle moves the overlapping pair of sheets toward the nip of a weld roller assembly, with the sheets being engaged by driving skewed rollers disposed directly adjacent the weld roller assembly. The sheets are drivingly moved through the nip of the weld roller assembly, with the weld roller assembly having upper and lower weld rollers which pressingly and drivingly engage the overlapping edges of the sheets therebetween to create a seam weld as the sheets move through the nip. A planish roll assembly having upper and lower planish rolls engages the seam weld directly downstream of the weld rolls to effect mashing thereof so that the resulting seam weld, while having a thickness greater than sheet thickness, nevertheless has a resulting thickness which is not significantly greater than the sheet thickness. The thus created one-piece larger sheet is then discharged onto a suitable conveyor or support for removal from the apparatus.
Other objects and purposes of the apparatus according to the present invention, including the structural and functional advantages associated with this apparatus, will be apparent upon reading the following specification and inspecting the accompanying drawings.